Into the Heart
by Here's to All We Lost
Summary: Sixteen years Clary has been free of Jace Lightwood after finding him cheating on her. She didn't dare tell anyone about the unborn child, either. Now Clary must face her deepest secret and fears: Jace bonding with Terra. Their sixteen year old daughter, lost in the world of Shadowhunting. That is, until she falls deep into trouble with a demon named Tate
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

Today was the fifth month anniversary of Clary and Jace. She was super extremely excited. She wanted to surprise him with a new leather jacket she had bought for him. She still felt bad for getting his other one ruined a while back. But now she had one to replace it. And news he'd love to know. She was expecting something of theirs that meant a lot to her. Since it was a big deal for her, she had put on a cute blue sundress with a brown leather jacket and black flats. Her face was clean with a bit of mascara on her eyelashes, and her hair was pulled into a ponytail that sat big and puffy on her shoulder. She couldn't wait to see Jace. She knew he'd remember today was today because he had told her he'd give her a surprise. She had learned about that and immediately felt like she owed him something in return.

She finally picked up the wrapped box off her bed, tucked it into her side bag, and hurried out of her room. She waved to Luke and Jocelyn who were watching the football game on the television, and they smiled to her. Just as she shut the door, they cried out. She laughed behind her hand, walking down the sidewalk towards the subway station. She grabbed a quick ride on the bus, thankfully getting a free ride due to the fact the person was a werewolf that was a part of Luke's pack. She sat in one of the front seats and waited patiently as the bus took off into Manhattan. She kept one leg crossed over the other, her bottom knee bouncing like crazy. The bus came to a stop, a street across from the subway stairs, and she swung herself off the bus. She hurried down the sidewalk, the warm summer sun beating on her, warming her body.

She came to the staircase, her hand barely touching the handrail as she timidly walked down the steps. She glanced at the bus schedule on the walls even though it was covered by graffiti and saw her train was arriving. She gasped in shock, running towards the bus with everyone crowding tightly around her. She finally made her way on the bus, and stood rather than sitting down. On her nearly empty car, she saw a girl sit in the corner of the train and play on an acoustic guitar, singing in the prettiest voice ever. Clary smiled, walked up to the girl's small hat filled with poor dollar bills. She dropped a fifty into the box, causing the girl to grin and play even better. Clary smiled, standing by the girl while she sung and played beautifully. She was pretty, Clary noted mentally. Dull brown hair and light brown eyes with pale skin, tattoos on her arms. Not tattoos, Clary sharply corrected herself, but Runes and Marks.

Clary swallowed nervously, moved herself so that what she was about to do could be hidden, and revealed her Clairvoyance rune. The brunette smirked at Clary, singing loud enough that some people turned. Clary moved back normally, and people started to migrate her way. Dollar bill after the other dropped into the hat until it was overflowing. Clary waved goodbye to the girl as the doors opened up, and she exited onto her platform. She ran up the stairs to the upside of New York City, and started to practically run towards the Institute. Her footsteps were quick and happy in their own way. She finally crossed the street leading towards the Institute, and ran towards the tall building. Her heart was pounding with anticipation. She couldn't wait to see him.

She pressed her hand to the door, and it opened up easily under her touch. She smiled and stepped inside, dusting off her dress skirt. Immediately she spotted Maryse walking past. The busy woman smiled, waving slightly to Clary before going back to the open file in her hands. She smiled back and started up the staircase. She finally came to the floor where Jace's room was, and she gently walked up to his door. She waited a second, hesitating as she went to knock. Inside, giggling and Jace's laughter echoed. Her heart started to falter. She finally pushed open the door, and was horrified at the sight before her. Jace was laying on his back, stark naked, a smile on his face. Both his hands were on the hips of a strange black-haired girl with fake blonde tips sitting right on top of him, bare to the bone.

Her eyes filled with tears, and she put her hand over her mouth just as an airy sob came. Jace looked up in shock, but that turned into pure horror as he saw exactly _who_ was in his room. Clary shook her head, backing away. She threw down the box with his gift inside, and started to run down the hallway. Tears fell down her cheeks.

"Clary!" called Jace from behind her. "Clary, wait!"

She was halfway to the stairs when his arms wrapped around her waist. She screamed, turning around and sharply dragging her nails down his cheek. He dropped her, his hand going to his face with a cry of surprise. Izzy's door opened up to reveal Alec and the tall girl.

"I hate you!" she screamed, shoving him hard with tears still falling down her face. "Stay away from me! Get out of my life! I wish I had never met you, you sorry bastard!"

She sobbed again, turning around and dashing faster than Jace could imagine towards the doors. She flung open her exit, and stepped outside. She ran opposite of where she needed to go. She ran until it hurt. She crashed to her knees in the alleyway beside Hotel Dumort. She sniffed, not caring she was beside a group of very hostile vampires, wiping at her face with sorrow. She finally got back onto her feet as she replayed everything that had happened when she was with Jace. They were over now. It was done. She hated Jace. She was finished with him. She never wanted to see him again. He didn't deserve her. She should've seen this coming. She walked up to the wall opposite of the Hotel, and used her stele to draw a Portal Rune.

The large pool of blue and white turned and twisted, and she didn't care where it led her to. Just as long as it was outside of Manhattan, she was happy. She stepped through the portal without a second thought, and she wasn't exactly prepared for when she crashed on her knees in a strange forest. She gasped, getting to her feet quickly. She looked around slowly until a snapping sound behind her hit the air. She whirled around, ready for a battle. She saw a familiar figure step out, and her heart sank. Sebastian stood a few feet away from her, his dark eyes staring at her.

"Who are you?" Sebastian quickly asked, pulling out a chakram from his belt.

"You know who I am, Sebastian," she snapped.

"My name's not Sebastian. My name's Gabriel," she saw his hand and realized that his Clairvoyance rune was opposite of Sebastian's.

"Oh," she gasped. "I'm-I'm sorry. You looked like someone I knew a while back."

"That's fine," Gabriel soothed. "I've been told I look like a lot of things. Who are you, if you don't mind finally answering me?"

"Oh," she laughed guiltily, rubbing the back of her neck shyly. "I'm Clary Fray. I came from Manhattan."

"Nice to meet you," he held out his hand. "You're a Shadowhunter, correct?"

"Yes," she nodded, shaking his hand firmly. "Where am I?"

"You're in Louisiana," the very handsome Shadowhunter answered, stepping fully into the sunlight.

She realized that his hair wasn't at all blonde. It was a fair brown. A very pretty fair brown. She had never seen anything like it. He was suddenly very handsome to her. His eyes weren't black, either. They were close, but not fully black. It looked like a gray that was a shade from being black. Like a dark, dark, burning ash.

"Louisiana?" she repeated to herself. "I never thought about Louisiana."

"Come on, I'll take you to the Institute," he offered her his hand.

She took his offer gratefully, not minding that she was hand in hand with a complete stranger. They walked until they came to a large, fenced in building. Around was large dogs. Much like wolves, but not exactly wolves. One had piercing blue eyes and dirty black fur. Like a huskie wolf. Wolfski's, she realized. Very pretty wolfskis. He opened up the gate and held it open for her. She became slightly nervous as one, a big brown wolf with green-gray eyes came up to her. It licked her hand in a comforting way. She let out a small breath and scratched the large canine behind the ear as they walked. It went back to the fence, and she was smiling just barely. He held open the doors to the large castle-church. They stepped inside and she was blasted by people.

Two females and four other males came up to Gabriel, but froze when they saw her.

"Gabe?" one of the girls, a sassy looking brunette with the same gray eyes as his. "Explain."

"Found her in the woods," he explained. "She's from Manhattan. She's a Shadowhunter, too. We can't leave her hanging."

"True," muttered a boy with ginger hair and dark eyes.

"Okay. Everyone, this is Clary Fray. Clary, meet everyone: My sister Brenda, Haylee, Mick, Daniel, Lynx, and Quinten."

She smiled and waved.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - Happy Sweet Sixteen, My Little Snowball:**

Clary sat on the chair in the large ball room of the rented building, smiling as she watched her daughter come out. She had to admit her daughter looked amazing: her fair skin powdered with makeup and blush, her large pale green eyes decorated with glittering black eye shadow and eyeliner, lips painted nude pink, her long blonde hair pinned up into a braid lined with a braid around the base, and her body fitted perfectly with a black dress. It was cut low on the top, the sleeves long and laced, the torso also lace, the skirt solid but cut at both the hips to the bottom. Her shoes were simple solid black high top converse. She had allowed her to wear the shoes because it made her happy, and her daughter was quiet unbalanced in heels. Plus, she had on tight leather pants to hide her body from the two exposing cuts and every boy that still turned to stare either way.

Clary thought Terra was the most beautiful sixteen girl ever. She smiled, standing up from the chair, and glided through the people over to her daughter. She evolved Terra into a warm hug, surprising the birthday girl.

"Mom!" the girl gasped. "You scared me."

"Happy Birthday, Snowball," she smiled, leaning back and tucking a free baby hair behind the girl's ear.

"Thanks, Mom," Terra sheepishly smiled, staring at the crowd of people. "Where's Dad?"

"He's talking with Uncle Gabriel," Clary took her daughter's hands and spun with her daughter. "Be happy! It's your birthday party, Snowball."

"I know," Terra pulled away nervously from her mother. "I'm just scared of falling and making a fool of myself."

"You're going to be just fine, Terra," Clary kissed her daughter's forehead. "Go and have fun."

"Thanks, Mom," the teenager smiled and walked away towards her 'cousins' siting by the doors.

Clary hated having to lie to her daughter, but it was for the better. Clary had gotten married to Lynx, but she had secretly already been pregnant when they were dating a few weeks after she arrived. Lynx didn't know about Jace being the true father. Lynx had promised not only Clary, but Terra as well, to be the best father he could. Clary loved Lynx for that. Lynx came off as a cold hearted warrior, when really he was the sweetest guy in the world. Gabriel was never jealous of her dating Lynx, for he was already dating Haylee. Him and Haylee had two kids, and Brenda had hooked up a couple times with Mick. Daniel had found a good Shadowhunter girl that lived outside the Clave. Poor Quinten was left out of the relationship loop. Then again, he was trying to determine his sexuality. Right now, he was bisexual and seeing a werewolf.

Clary finally found Lynx, and sure enough, he was standing rigid beside Gabriel. Gabriel's jaw was dropped in shock, but Clary couldn't see or figure out why. She started their way. A hand landed on her arm, and she whirled around sharply to find herself locked in place, staring up into familiar gold eyes.

"Hello, Clary," Jace smiled at her.

She was left speechless, silently willing that Lynx would come to save her.

"Long time, no see," he continued on, staring her up and down slightly. "How have you been?"

"Mom?" came Terra's slightly anxious voice.

"Yes?" she turned to her daughter, snatching her arm out of his grasp. "What is it, Snowball?"

"Uh," Terra was staring in confusion at Jace. "When exactly is the music going to start? Everyone's getting anxious."

"Oh," Clary looked at Lynx, meeting his bright brown eyes with a look that made him start her way. "Well, go ahead and tell the DJ to start the music. First dance is always with the father and daughter-"

"I'll go ahead and announce the dance," Lynx spoke up, grabbing Clary's hand.

"Who's this?" Jace asked.

"Ugh," she scoffed under her breath. "Lynxon, this is Jace Lightwood. An old friend of mine from Manhattan. Jace, this is Lynx and Terra. My husband, and my daughter."

"Oh," Jace had a clear but see-through expression of emotional surprise.

"Yes," Clary smiled at Lynx and Terra. "You two go ahead and get ready. I'll go find Mick."

The two slowly slid away, as if they knew she really didn't want to be left alone again with Jace.

"Clary, wait," he took a long stride after her when she went to walk away again. "I want to talk to you."

"About what?" her voice was dagger sharp and demon venomous.

"All those years ago," he urged. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I-"

"But you did hurt me," she snipped dangerously. "Now, if you'll _excuse me_. I have places to be. It's time to move on, Jace Lightwood. Goodbye, and it wasn't lovely seeing you again."

She turned away and left him, staring after her, and she finally felt that last weight on her shoulders lift. She made a B-loop to the stage, and she sat on the edge while Lynx walked up to the microphone. She listened to his deep, handsome voice as he announced himself and greeted everyone. She watched his expression go from open to warm to absolutely caring. His eyes were stuck on Terra as he started to go through the emotions he felt while she was growing up. By the time he finished and announced the dance, Terra was covering her nose and mouth with both hands as she cried happy tears. Clary had to flick away a few of her own.

Terra started to clean her face as Lynx walked up to her, and the people cleared away the dance floor. The two started to slowly dance to the soft beat of music. Just as the two got good into the rhythm, large cracking noises echoed from ahead. Clary looked up to see familiar black smoky figures bang on the glass roof. The Shadowhunters and Downworlders inside the room gasped, staring up. A shout came from the largest demon, and the glass finally shattered. Clary gasped, pulling out a Seraph blade from her thigh sheath. She saw Lynx take out his chakrams, and even Terra unsheathed a weapon. The demons came raining down.

Blood splattered the walls as the first Shadowhunter without a weapon was murdered.

War broke.

* * *

 **A/N: I own nothing! The Mortal Instrument series belongs to Cassandra Clare! The only thing I own is Terra and the others! Hope you enjoy and please send me your opinions**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Pyro and Blood:**

Terra stared up at the falling demons, slicing out her short dagger as one came straight for her. She was glad she decided to wear gear material instead of normal clothes like everyone else. She was shoved hard by a demon, and she flipped backwards. The blade she once had in her hands went sliding under the stage. She cursed and curled both fists, preparing to battle the monster snarling with hunger in front of her. It growled, paused, and charged at her. One long claw-tipped hand swung at her, but she leaned away. As it swung and took steps towards her, she took steps backwards and simply tilted herself to the sides. One claw tore down her thigh, and she became angry. She pulled out the weapon in her shoe, flipping the short staff around until it grew large and proud, the large blade sprouting from the tip. She spun the scythe around and held it out in a challenging motion.

All of the demons turned and ran towards her, and she took a deep breath. One swiped out at her, and she jumped, missing the claw. She landed on one knee, the other foot outwards, and she spun around with her scythe tearing through the many demons. She flipped forwards, landing on her feet, holding her scythe in one hand as she moved forward, shredding multiple creatures at a time. She finally gripped her scythe in both hands and swung the blade in a curved motion, the blade flat with the air. More demons were killed than she had intended, but she didn't mind. There was something big landing behind her, and she turned to find herself staring into the eyes of a demon she had never seen before. It looked like a man with black instead of whites in his eyes, the irises tiny and blood red, black and red glowing cracks around it, four large red and black tentacles sprouting from the middle of his lower back.

She gasped just as one shot out at her, knocking her back a few feet. She stopped sliding, stared at the man, and finally cleared her expression. She spun her scythe from one hand to the other, pointing the tip at him. He sneered and charged at her. She lifted a knee and kicked out at him, his fist cracking on the bottom of her shoe. She breathed in sharp with pain, but didn't dwell on it. She slung her scythe upwards, spinning around, cutting him in an upwards motion on his chest. He cried out, flying away, grabbing at the bleeding cut in his top. She landed flat on her feet again, pointing her scythe like before. He screamed at her and shot out at her. She flipped backwards, her hands on the staff of her large weapon, landing from her hands to her feet and over again as his large mutations slammed hard into the concrete where she had been before. Finally one shot before she could flip over, and she threw out her scythe mid-air.

The shimmering black blade cut straight through, forcing a scream to pierce the sky.

She landed on her feet again, turning to him, her weapon ready for when he grabbed her around the waist with his free limb. She was lifted, and she grabbed his throat. He only smirked at her, and she pressed down on the back. Immediately, his dark eyes rolled back and he dropped. She pushed off his body with both feet, flipping backwards, landing in a slight graze backwards. She stood, walked quickly over to his crumbled body, and held up her scythe as she spun it around. She flung the blade down, cutting clean through his neck. She watched his head roll a couple yards away. People gasped, and demons started to jump and rain down on her. She gritted her teeth and did easy swings and slices through the monsters. Limbs fell on the ground, body parts and pieces of the bodies decorating the once clean tiles.

Blood splattered her face and clothes, claws tearing at her, bodies shedding like pencils on her sharpener of a scythe. Energy unlike anything she had felt before was pumping through her veins. Sure enough, her movements became faster and stronger and far more powerful. There was something she noticed about her newly found adrenaline: it happened after she met the boy's eyes. She figured it was the rush of fighting getting to her.

She was so busy getting lost in her thoughts, a demon was able to sneak behind her. She gasped as it latched onto her back, and the large jaws of crooked fangs sunk into her neck curve. She screamed in pain and anger. She grabbed the neck of the monster, flung it to where it was laying in front of her, and put one foot on the upper chest while she grabbed the top of the head. It gave a snarl, and she yanked, ripping the thing in half. _No more Miss Nice Girl,_ she thought darkly. She pulled out her second weapon, and it came out just as large as the scythe, but the curved ax blade proved otherwise. She jumped forward, slicing through the demons with both her weapons. They were big and sturdy and clearly no one in the room thought she could use both so affectively.

She didn't turn around as much, but she was flashing around as she attacked the countless demons. They closed in on her, and she started to notice her space to move was becoming limited. Soon, she'd be stuck in one place. The demons could easily kill her if she allowed them to get her. She saw Lynx hold up both his hands, and she hurled the ax at him. It really wasn't her weapon, but Lynx had made her hold it for him. Her father started to aid her on killing the demons, and a few ganged up on her. She gasped as they all charged at her, slamming her onto the ground. She struggled as one demon held each of her arms and legs down. She gritted her teeth, and one of the demons sank their fangs down into her ribs. She let out a full scream of agony. The others joined in, biting her at the most available places.

She thrashed, and they tightened their grip on her. A loud cracking sound hit the air, and the demon biting her thigh vanished. She waited until all the monsters were gone, but she still couldn't move. She was too weak. They took too much blood. Hands wrapped under her arms, lifting her up and over their shoulder. Clearly, it was a male. She just didn't know who. She weakly opened up her blood-coated eyes to see them hold them correctly. That Jace person Clary had introduced had a dark expression of anger and power. She felt her slowly beating heart pick up pace with anxiety. Her head lifted back, and black, thick ooze came dripping over the side of her mouth. It was sharp and nasty. Poison. It was choking her. The walls were closing in. She weakly pushed against him, but he didn't let her down immediately. He ran until they came to the dressing room in the back, and he barricaded the door.

She was finally laid down, and she rolled over onto her side as she threw up blood and demon poison. She continued to retch until she was cleansed of the dark toxin. Hands gently laid on her back, and she pulled the tiniest blade ever from her bra sheath. She whirled around, landing on her rump beside the pool of boiling venom, her narrowed eyes on him. Most of her hair was fallen from the bun, and she waited to take it out. Jace held up his hands as she pressed the blade to his throat, the blade short and stout enough to pierce his throat and kill him. She pushed him back, and he leaned on his heels. She finally let down all of her hair, and then turned to him again.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Your moth-" he tried.

"Let me rephrase:" she growled. "Who were you?"

"What do you mean?" he shook his head in confusion.

"Who were you to my mother? I know she's from Manhattan. But she never mentioned you. I can tell there's something behind you two because she's gets uneasy around you. Who were you to her?"

"I was her boyfriend," he finally replied. "I was dating your mother for five months. I, like an idiot, cheated with a girl that passed me. I don't know what I was thinking. I got caught by your mother. I hurt her, and I fell like shit for hurting her like I did."

"You-You dated my mother?" she felt her heart freeze with sheer horror. "I thought she only dated brunettes?"

"What do you mean?" Jace shook his head again.

"That's what she told me when I asked," she shrugged.

"No," he smirked, laughing slightly. "I'm not a fake blonde. Never was I a brunette. So that's one lie."

"My mother doesn't lie to me," she snapped, pressing the blade closer to his neck. "She's promised me that she hasn't."

"Okay, okay," he held up his hands in surrender. "Calm down. I'm not here to fight with you. I'm just trying to talk. Have you ever met your grandparents?"

"I've met my dad's," she slowly put down the knife, moving to where she sat indian style on the rug.

"Have you ever met Clary's parents?" he pressed.

"No," she shook her head. "I've never really heard much about them. . ."

"Their name's are Luke and Jocelyn. Luke isn't exactly your blood grandfather, but your real grandfather is dead. His name was Valentine Morgenstern. He was a mad man. Crazy in the head. You had an uncle, too. Sebastian. But his real name was Jonathan. They're both dead. Luke took up for Valentine never being there for Clary. He's a werewolf, and Jocelyn is a fierce mama-bear Shadowhunter."

"Sounds like Mom," Terra smirked in amuse.

"Looks identical, too," Jace laughed, nodding. "Except her eyes are darker and her hair is more flame than fire. Your mother has that ginger flame."

She tried not to laugh, but it ended up coming out as a snort.

"I know. I'm hilarious," he boasted.

"You're an asshole, that's for sure," she smirked.

"Why?" he stared at her in hurt.

"You dragged me in here when I was fine," she stared at him lamely. "Where's my scythe?"

"It's over there," he looked at the door where the scythe laid on the ground.

She stood up, picked up her prized weapon, and gave it a quick spin around.

"How on earth do you use that thing? It's huge," huffed Jace.

"It's only big if you let it be big," she smirked, glancing over her shoulder at him. "It's like submission and dominance. If you let your weapon be dominant, you'll never be able to properly use it."

"Seriously?" she saw his eyebrows shoot up.

"Yeah," she nodded, and used her foot to push the desk out of her way. "Let's go back and help everyone before they get killed."

She didn't wait for him to follow. She raced out of the room and ran into the main room to see her mother and father finish off the last demons. There was plenty of dead demons, but also some dead Shadowhunters. Her Sweet Sixteen had just become a Sweet Death-teen. She raced up to her father and mother, hugging them both. They sighed with relief and hugged her back. Clary started to stroke her hair, and she slightly opened her eyes. She tensed her muscles, wedged her hands between her parents, and roughly shoved them to the sides. She lifted her scythe just as the other girl sliced down with a scythe of her own. She narrowed her eyes and shoved the girl back.

She spun her scythe around, challenging the girl. The girl smirked and ran at her. She saw a tattoo on the girl's collar saying "Joker". She snorted in annoyance. Who calls themselves Joker? She jumped up high as the girl swiped out at her, and she grabbed the staff of the scythe. She brought down a single foot, breaking the weapon. She twirled her scythe behind her, and brought it forward.

The girl's eyes finally turned, and she saw the same kind of eyes the previous demon boy had. She watched the girl drop, and stepped back. The girl turned into ash, and she heard her cousin Angel cry out in sorrow. She noticed the girl was decorated just like Raven, Angel's sister. But she knew that wasn't Raven. Raven didn't have "Joker" tattooed on her. She stepped back from the dead girl, her scythe folding into the first form it came as: a small folded over staff. She sheathed her weapon, watching as Angel raced forward but stopped when the body vanished. Angel's tear filled sterling blue eyes looked up at Terra in confusion. Angel was still twelve, so she wasn't exactly caught up with demon abilities.

Terra took a step backwards and turned to her mother and father who were staring at her with large eyes. She glanced down at her feet in shame. She stayed like that while people around her slowly started to move around and pick up their fallen family members. Why did her birthday seem to always end in tragedy? Was it really too much to ask for one year without any issues? She let out a small breath of lost hope.

Finally, her father grabbed her by the shoulders and led her with the others out the door and back home.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Aftermaths and Growing Suspicions:**

Terra sat on her bed, no longer in her sixteen dress. Now, all of her hair was dry and falling down around her, a large shirt her only clothes other than her underwear. She held her knees close to her face, arms looped around her legs tightly, forehead buried in her knees. Tears were still falling down her face. About ten different Shadowhunters died at her party. Excluding those who barely made it. Total injured was thirty nine. Almost forty. She couldn't believe her birthday was actually that much of a disaster. After Lynx had got her home, she didn't even feel herself go to her bedroom door. Three had gone past, she was still locked away in her bedroom. She couldn't face anyone. Not even her own family.

She sobbed, starting to shake and tremor once again. She gripped her ankles to hard they started to bleed. The tears came like the air conditioner over her face. She sobbed until her throat was shredded. She stood up, her ankles stinging painfully as her blood dribbled onto the footsteps. She grabbed her pretty vase she had gotten from Lynx's aunt Wendy, and her fingers ran up the thorns on the stem of the beautiful white roses. She frowned deeply at them, clutched the glass in one hand, and hurled it strongly at the wall. The glass shattered, but she wasn't finished. The hate in her blood was boiling to a degree she had never felt before. She grabbed her tall lamp and slammed it onto the ground. Her fire was still not fed. She threw down her vintage clock, breaking the beautiful masterpiece. She shattered her pictures with her family and old friends. She punched a hole in her wall, broke a chair, busted her vanity mirror, shattered her other floor length mirror.

She dropped to her knees in the shards of glass, letting out a cry of angry defeat. She put her hand on her forehead where her bangs were falling back into her face, the waves and creases falling over into her eyes. She sobbed again, screamed, then sobbed some more. She put both of her bloody hands over her face, blood smearing on her cheeks and neck. She hated her skin. It was crawling and binding around her. She needed to get out of it. Her frustration was worn but not gone. Her skin wouldn't let it go. She gritted her teeth, fresh tears falling down in heavy streams that dropped onto her bleeding legs, and she grabbed the sides fo her hair.

She cried hard into the silence of her now destroyed room. There was a light sound at her door, and she didn't move. She became silent, still, but her body quaked again and tears still fell. The person inside her room shut the door but stayed silent.

"You're. . . Terra, right?" the person calmly asked.

She barely turned to see a tall male with black hair and bright blue eyes staring at her. She nodded.

"Okay," he glanced around the room. "I'm Alec Lightwood. Jace's brother and _parabatai_."

"You're both?" she cocked an eyebrow, staring back down at her hands.

"Sort of," he moved closer to her. "Jace has been around us since he was young. We're not blood brothers, but we're close enough."

"That's nice," she spoke under her breath.

"Everyone's worried about you," he finally told her after a minute pause. "You haven't come out in three days. Y-"

"Tell Mom and Dad that I'm fine," she cut him off.

He hesitated.

"Please," she looked at him over her shoulder, her eyes meeting his. "just leave me alone."

"I understand you want to be left alone," he nodded and was being very quiet and soft. "But this-" he motioned to the disaster of a bedroom. "this won't solve anything. Having a breakdown won't help anyone. You need to come out and show everyone you're okay. No one's going to believe me. _You_ have to prove you're okay. I can't."

"You're not going to leave until I do, are you?" she sighed deeply in annoyance.

"No," he simply chirped.

"Whatever," she scoffed, rising to her feet indignantly. "I'm taking a shower. Tell everyone I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Sure thing," he left just like that.

She rolled her eyes and gathered up something simple to wear. A long sleeved Linkin Park band shirt with some simple light wash blue jeans and her shoes was the best choice she had. She went into her bathroom, searching for a good shower and her stele.

* * *

Jace sat uneasily in the family room of the Louisiana Institute. He, Izzy, Alec, and Maryse were here to visit with Brenda Whitefront, the head of the Institute. Sitting in the room with him was two Shadowhunters introduced as Gabriel and Mick. On the love seat, Lynx and Clary were quietly talking. His heart panged when he saw Lynx lean into Clary's neck as he whispered something to her that made her giggle. He was furiously jealous of them.

He still loved Clary.

He'd never admit that to anyone, though.

Only Clary could know.

He hoped she still had feelings for him, but he doubted it. She was married now. To a big brute with dark brown hair and brown eyes. And they had a kid: Terra. But every time he saw Terra stand beside Lynx, nothing at all was in common about them. When he saw her next to Clary, he noticed she was short and bottle like and had green eyes like her mother. Jocelyn didn't have pale blonde hair, and Valentine's hair was so fine it would be white. Maybe there was a little golden blonde in his family? No. There was something Clary wasn't telling anyone. And Jace planned to find out. Izzy stepped through the doors with Alec in tow, and the two stopped when they saw Clary being nuzzled by Lynx.

His heart did a couple flips of pure anger. Alec felt it, for the tall Shadowhunter moved quickly to his side on the three seated sofa. Izzy took up the last seat. Izzy stared directly at Clary who had both eyes shut, trying to keep her giggling quiet. His knee started to bounce. There was a little pause, and Gabriel started up a conversation.

"So, you're all from Manhattan?" he asked the Lightwoods.

"Yes," nodded Izzy.

"What's it like up there?" he pressed curiously.

"Beautiful," smiled Alec. "At night you can see the lights actually touch the sky. The stars are hard to find sometimes but it's still beautiful. The water is amazing. The beaches are warm and the water's cold. No matter what, when you go there, you feel like you're home."

"Wow," Jace stared daringly at his brother. "I didn't know you were so deep in your feelings, Alec."

"Shut it," Alec grabbed the pillow and shoved it into the blonde's face. "Terra's taking a shower, by the way. She'll be coming down in a few."

"Really?" Clary stared at the blue eyed boy finally.

"Mhm." he simply nodded. "Oh, and there's something I'd like to talk to you about later on, Clary."

"Oh," Clary looked confused. Sixteen years, and Jace could still read her like a book. "O-Okay."

The door was lightly knocked on, and it cracked open. A pale, slightly wet Terra slid inside. Jace noticed just how much she reminded him of himself when he was her age after a shower; hair towel dried and falling all over his face, eyes bright with the water, gold eyelashes still holding up a few of the droplets, clothes damp from her hair, and flush in her highly defined cheekbones. He was shocked that a girl that wasn't his looked so much like him. It was odd. How come he and Terra _did_ look so much alike? He pushed away the thoughts.

"Terra, hon, are you alright? You have a cut on your cheek," Clary stood up and walked over to her slimming daughter.

Three days of no eating whatsoever took that much affect on her?

Last time he'd seen something so small and simple take such a big affect on a person was when he was with Clary all those years, having nightmares that made him sick to his stomach even now.

"I'm fine, Mom," Terra was so quiet and jumpy, he was shocked she wasn't a cat.

"Are you sure?" Clary pressed anxiously.

"I'm fine, Mom," she repeated in annoyance.

She had the same attitude he did when people asked him if he needed help or was okay.

"There's some leftovers in the fridge if you're hungry-" Clary started, placing her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

"I'm not hungry," she quickly assured her mom. "I ate a granola bar before I came here. I'm fine, Mom. Okay?"

"Okay, hon," Clary gave in.

"I'm gonna go back to my room. I want to practice drawing and naming Runes without the Codex," with that, Terra slid out the room.

Clary sat back down and everyone except for Lynx and Jace joined in on a conversation over the new bog demons nesting around the Institute. Jace was too busy thinking about what Terra told her mother. He didn't even excuse himself as he quickly slid out the room. He went into the kitchen and searched every cabinet. Not a single granola bar box or bar itself. She had lied to Clary? He finally started up the stairs, making it look like he was going towards his room, but he wasn't going there. He passed by her silent bedroom door. He pressed his ear to the door, and found it silent as ever. Not even breathing. He opened up the door, not needing to unlock it. He stared inside and was horrified by what he saw. Glass was shattered everywhere, broken pictures and a lamp and vase strode everywhere. Her mirror were shattered, her blood dragged everywhere. He silently closed the door, glanced up and down the hallway, and started to think.

What would he do? He imagined being Terra, and he found himself staring at one of the midnight flowers he had shown to Clary when he first met her. He grinned, and raced up multiple staircases until he came to the Institute's greenhouse. He saw her sitting on one of the frames to a flower bed filled with blooming bell angel's. She had tears in her eyes, red flush of pure rage filling her cheeks. He took a deep breath, walking towards her. He sat down beside her, and her hair fell down around her face as she looked down at her hands in her lap. He took a deep breath, and pulled her to him by the waist. He wrapped his arms around her small shoulders, his head set on her crown.

She was tense under his touch, but she gradually melted against him. Her arms wrapped around his torso, her face burying into his chest, and he felt his heart break as she sobbed into his top. He stroked her hair slowly, running his fingers through the slightly tangled waves, soothing her as she let all her withheld tears out. He whispered small, calming words in her ear as she cried her heart out. He finally got quiet, sliding down to the ground, bringing her with him. She curled up in his lap, and she still cried. Somehow, he found her not too long after fast asleep in his lap. He smiled down at her soft face and caressed her cheek. He wasn't attracted towards her, but he felt oddly responsible for her. As if she was his own little sister. Or daughter. Same thing, he thought simply.

He finally picked her up in his arms, and carried her to her own room. He saw that she was awake when her hands clutched tightly onto his shirt collar. He looked down and saw that she wouldn't even look at her door. He took a deep breath and walked to his own room. She seemed to relax at the plain room. He laid her down sideways on the bed, and he saw her immediately start to drift off. He went to go back out of his door and tell Clary that he took Terra to his room since hers was a disaster, but a hand gripped the back of his shirt. He turned to see her face soft, eyes barely open.

"Don't leave," she whispered, pleading him.

He let out a small breath, crawled onto the bed, lifted up her head, and set it down into his lap once he was comfortable. She seemed to take the warmth of his body, curled up against him, and fell asleep. He started to rake her hair again, and ended up passing out himself.

* * *

Alec had found Jace asleep in his room with Terra resting in his lap. He had panicked at first, but then guessed that Terra was somewhere and they ended up talking to each other in his room. He decided in he end to ignore it. Hours had past, and the sun was down. He had told Clary to meet him on the rooftop after dinner. He leaned calmly against the railing on the rooftop, his hands clutching the cold metal. Magnus was back in Manhattan. He missed his boyfriend, but he planned on proposing when he got back. The idea made him both excited and nervous. What if Magnus said no? What if Magnus laughed in his face? What if Magnus was previously married? After the Dark War, he and Magnus had spent time together and talking about Magnus' life. He was glad his boyfriend was opening up to him. He really was.

There was a light sound from behind him, and he turned to see Clary climbing on top of the tall castle. Clary strode over to him, fixing her simple blouse.

"You wanted to talk?" she said uncomfortably.

"Yeah," he stared back out at the stretching forest. "I wanted to talk to you about Terra."

"What about her?" Clary tensed up.

"One: I think you need to talk to her about her bipolar depression," Alec used his fingers to name off his reasons. "Two: I want to know who her father is."

"Her father?" Clary repeated, her voice kicking a pitch for a moment. "Her father's Lynx. You've seen Lynx. I'm married to him, after all."

"No." Alec turned to the redhead, shaking his head. "Don't lie to me. Who's her father? Her _real_ father?"

"Why are you asking me this?" Clary's voice wavered.

"Because I need to know," he pressed gently. "Clary, you can't hide this forever. Lynx, Jace, and Terra need to know. I won't tell them if you don't want me to, but I will push to extreme measures if I have to."

Clary turned to the trees, a single tear falling down her face.

"It- Her father. . . Her birth father. . ." she couldn't bear to say it. He could see the pain and sorrow in her eyes. "Her father's J-Jace."

Clary put her hands on her face as she sobbed into them, while Alec processed the information he had just received.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Alec softly said, comforting the small woman with a gentle squeeze on the shoulder.

"I was going to," she sniffed, wiping at her face. "But I found him banging some fake blonde-tipped chick. On our fifth month anniversary."

"What? So that's why you left?" Alec felt furious at Jace.

She nimbly nodded.

"I'm sorry, Clary," he softly apologized. "You had a right to be angry and break up with him. But, that's his baby in there. Jace was shattered after you left. Do you know how many times I found him in the attic trying to kill himself? He never ate, never went out. He only killed demons and other Downworlders. He blamed himself for you leaving. Jocelyn and Luke were heartbroken. Luke actually beat up Jace when he found that you had left and saw that girl walking out of the Institute. She gave him a pretty good slap, too. Luke was pissed. Jocelyn even went into a blank state. You left, and it seemed like nothing was the same anymore. Reality went out the window."

"He hurt me much more than I hurt him," she whispered. "I'm happy now, though. I have a husband. I moved on. I have a family. Jace has memories. He needs to get up and go on with his life. I did it. It's his turn. He can't know about Terra. He'd never leave. Things were going perfect until he came and ruined it."

"Jace doesn't even know he's a father, Clary," growled Alec, frustration and anger rising in his gut. "You're going to let him go on miserable and tired? The least you can do is tell them."

"I don't have to tell them anything!" she snapped.

"Jace and Terra deserve to know!" he shouted furiously at her. "Stop being so stubborn and do it! Before one of them gets hurt."

With that, Alec left, fuming still. He opened the trap door leading into the Institute, and he heard Clary crash to knees while crying. He felt regret pang his stomach with guilt, but he kept forward.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Chicken Alfredo and Visiting Darkness:**

Lynx sat in the kitchen at the island, the book laid down in front of him, Clary dashing around with Haylee and Angel as they cleaned up dinner. He was quite pissed. Jace, the asshole who had hurt Clary a few years back, came to the Institute with his family. He wasn't at all happy about that. He could tell that Jace's _para,_ Alec, was starting to get a bit suspicious whenever Terra was in the same room as Jace or him. It was making him extremely uncomfortable. Earlier Terra had came into the family room, straight from the shower, but he noticed she was different from a few weeks ago. She was far more jumpy, paler, and defiantly scrawnier. He though she was already thin and bony enough. Maybe it was just her training so much?

But she hadn't come into the training room since the night before her birthday. He was becoming extremely worried for her mental and physical health. He knew that tonight he'd talk to Clary about it. He let out a small breath as the door to the kitchen opened up. He marked the page in his book he was reading, shutting it and glancing over his shoulder to find the one being he really didn't want near him: Jace. He narrowed his eyes skeptically. Just when he expected the blonde to call for Clary, Jace looked sternly at him and motioned him out of the room. Jace left and he waited a few seconds. He was caught very off caught guard by the fact Jace wanted to be within a foot range of him. Finally, he shook his head, stood up, and glanced at Clary before leaving.

He stepped out of the kitchen to see Jace walking down the corridor already, clearly not caring if he followed or not. He followed the blonde, ending up being weaved to the training room. He took a deep breath, his hands tucking into his jacket pockets. He came around the corner just as the large doors shut. He shouldered open the two frames of wood, watching Jace pick up a random throwing knife and hurl it into the dead center of a target on the walls. He was a bit surprised. He thought only Terra could manage a stunt like that. Which was strange. . .

First, Jace pops up.

Next, Alec starts to get tense and quiet when he or Jace were in the same room as Terra.

Then, Terra disappears for a little while along with Jace.

Suddenly, Jace appears from no where and wants to talk to him.

He narrowed his eyes and studied Jace for a bit. Jace seemed to be much more relaxed than when he first got here. He wasn't as stiff. His first thing that came to his mind's eye was of Jace pinning Terra down to the bed, doing things he didn't want to think about. He curled his fists slightly with pure rage. Did Jace really take advantage of his daughter? He would kill Jace and string the blonde up as the Vikings had. Only Jace wouldn't be conscious. He'd be half dead after Lynx beat him to a near pulp. He swallowed a little angrily. His mind immediately started to race.

 _If that sorry mother fucker touched my daughter. . ._ he started to think the darkest thoughts he had thought in years. Last time he had thought of things so evil and twisted, he was dating Clary and was awfully jealous of the fact other men liked to stare when they were out. He believed that what he imagined doing to the boys then was bad, what he just pictured attempting on Jace was like treating those other boys like he was punishing a dog for chewing on a shoe. He finally blinked out of his drift when Jace finally turned to him.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," Jace said a little quietly. Thankfully, the room echoed his voice so it was loud enough.

"Clearly," Lynx snorted, rolling his eyes.

"It's about Terra," Jace had a very serious. . . odd tone to his voice.

"What about her?" his entire body tensed up.

"I think there's something Clary's hiding from us," Jace picked up a blade and started to tap the hilt against his thigh. "Look, I was talking to her earlier-"

"I need to ask you something before we keep this conversation going," he cut off the blonde sharply. "Did you sleep with my daughter?"

"Excuse me?" Jace went sheet white, his gold eyes going nearly just as pale, round as ever.

"Did you sleep with Terra?" Lynx's voice dropped a tone, turning it into a deep, dark, warning growl.

"By the Angel, Lynx, you think I'm that perverted and low?" Jace dropped the blade with disgusted horror in his body language and expression.

"If you're lying," he warned, towering dangerously over Jace. "I'll kill you. You got that?"

"I can promise you," Jace stared Lynx square in the eyes. "I would never touch your daughter in that way. Not even if I we were the last beings on earth would I lay a finger on her. The only time I actually touched your daughter was when she was in the greenhouse crying. Is hugging your daughter that bad?"

"No," Lynx leaned back. "Where's Terra, anyways? Still in the greenhouse?"

"No," Jace picked up the blade. "She passed out from crying so hard, so I went to carry her to her room. She like wigged out when I got close to her room. She didn't want to go back in there for some reason. I took her to mine. She's in there now, asleep."

"In your bed?" he raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"We just went over that I'd never touch your daughter like that," Jace snorted, paling again.

"I know," Lynx narrowed his eyes. "That doesn't mean I fully believe you, though."

"Oh wow," Jace shook his head, hurling the blade at a target.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he crossed his arms over his chest and shifted his weight evenly between his knees.

"Okay. You know Alec, right? Alec's a good guy. He wouldn't do something if it would hurt someone else. But he was talking to me the other night and was telling me about how it was almost scary that Terra and I looked alike. Tell me something, how long were you and Clary dating before she announced her pregnancy?"

"That's actually a different story," he moved his weight to his left side. "I actually slept with Clary before we started to date. A few weeks after she came here. Maybe a month? Not exactly but close to a month."

He still remembered that night like it was yesterday: He had been in the training room all day long because Mick had pissed him off. After many hours of just punching a bag and throwing a few blades, he went back to his room. Clary's room had been just down the hall from his. He remembered seeing her door shut tight, the light on though. He didn't bother her. He had actually been nice to her when she had first came, but just as with almost everyone, he kept his distance. He had been in his room maybe fifteen minutes, just sitting on his bed, wrapping his knuckles. He had punched the bag so much so hard that his knuckles were bleeding. He didn't want to put on an _iratze_ , though. It was a waste of time in his opinion at the time.

Suddenly, the door had been knocked on. He remembered opening it up, then Clary racing past him. He had been indignant at first, demanding what she wanted. He hadn't even noticed at first that she had on nothing but underwear and a big shirt. It took her sitting down on his bed, falling backwards that showed she didn't have on much clothing to cover herself. He had blushed immediately despite himself. Thankfully, he didn't blush too badly. And he had amazing control over his emotions. He could still identify and place each Rune and Mark she had on her arms and thighs.

He had sat down, listening to her spill everything. Why she had been stressing out so badly, why she didn't talk about her family that much, why she left Manhattan. Everything. When he was brought to the light about Jace and what Jace had done, he didn't know what took over him, but he had leaned over and started to kiss her. A few minutes later, she had told him that she had only been with one guy before. He had taken complete control from there. He quickly pulled himself out of his thoughts, realizing there was an awkward pause between the two.

"So then let me guess, a few weeks later she told you she was expecting yours?" Jace narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Yes," his own eyes narrowed to slits.

"And Terra was born in November?" Jace kicked both his eyebrows up high.

"Smack dead on the twelfth," he answered. "Why?"

"If Terra was born in November," Jace put his hand on his chin and started to pace back and forth. "Then she started cooking when it was about February, am I wrong?"

"No," Lynx shook his head, also doing the math.

"And Clary announced her pregnancy when it was . . . April, correct?" Jace was getting deep into his thoughts.

"Yes," Lynx furrowed his brows. "So then if Terra was made in February, then that means she came here pregnant. If not, then she must have really been made in April and was two months early. Doctors said Terra was perfect, though? I mean perfectly developed, not a single flaw in sight. She was a perfect little ball of curly blonde hair and big green eyes."

"I think we need to talk to Clary about this," Jace stopped moving all at once, staring up at Lynx.

"You're thinking that Terra's not mine?" he became immediately defensive.

"It's a possibility," Jace quickly snapped back. "I'm just saying that Clary could've lied to the both of us."

"Clary wouldn't lie to me," he narrowed his eyes, feeling the Rune on his chest burn along with each of his other Runes. "We're married. Why would she lie to me?"

"Because she's your wife and doesn't want to hurt you," Jace answered bluntly.

Lynx couldn't argue for a moment, unable to help himself from wondering about it for a moment. Would Clary actually lie to him? He knew that some blonde kids had one redhead parent and a brunette parent as well. But was Terra blonde because the collision of his genes and Clary's? Or was it because Terra was never his in the first place? He'd have to ask. He remembered seeing Alec storm past him from the rooftop, Clary coming behind him a few minutes later, seeming oddly distressed. He hadn't asked because Clary had smiled and wiped her eyes, saying that she found out how much she missed Manhattan. He had offered for them to go visit over spring break for the academy and go see the city, and she had agreed but denied it at the same time. He didn't mind though.

"So you think that Clary lied to the both of us?" he finally sighed and leaned back, falling against the wall behind him.

"Honestly, yes," Jace sighed as well, his head hanging low. "Then again. . . we could always have a DNA test? See who's the father of Terra. Get a doctor to do it undercover."

"That could actually work," Lynx nodded, agreeing. "You want to do it?"

"Sure," Jace shrugged. "I'd like to figure this out. Soon. I can't leave not knowing. And if Terra's yours, I promise I will never bother you or your family again."

"I would appreciate that," he nodded, standing up straight again. "But I think that Terra's become rather fond of you. She enjoys being around you. I've noticed she's more relaxed when you're near. She might seem anxious, but that's normal. Jace, if it turns out that Terra is your daughter, I will be happy to know what your decision would be."

"If she's my child," Jace sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I'd really like to see her. I mean let her come up every summer or any break time and let her just come stay at the Institute. Get to know her better, that's for damn sure. I wouldn't dare hurt her or leave her hanging. I'd try my hardest to be the best father possible. Then again, I'd never live up to be nearly as good a parent as you have."

"I accept your compliment, Jace," he tilted his head. "I would be happy to oblige to your terms if she's yours. Clary, however, I wouldn't dare put it past her to force down a restraining order. She's been. . . tense since you've arrived. I'll admit I didn't like you that much. But you're a good Shadowhunter, Jace. I respect you."

"And I you," Jace gave a curt nod.

The two men clasped hands, shook once, then Lynx exited while Jace threw a dagger again. Lynx walked down the hallways, his hands in his jacket pockets, turning around the corner to find himself almost ramming straight into the sister of Jace: Isabelle Lightwood. He blinked in shock, the tall girl paling before turning pink and racing away. He had to admit that if he wasn't with Clary, he'd defiantly try with Isabelle. But he loved Clary. He wouldn't dare leave her for her ex's sister. That was beyond low. He glanced into the kitchen to find it empty. Now that dinner was over and everything was done, everyone was going to be settling down for the night. He knew Clary would be in their room, so he hurried up the steps towards their large room. He opened up the doors to find Clary folding laundry, placing away all of the clothes.

He smiled, silently shutting the door, locking it, then slowly creeping up on her. He waited until she sat down on of his shirts, then he slid his hands around her hips and kissed her neck curve. She tensed as his hands made contact with her, but melted against him as he started to move his kisses up her neck. He smirked, pulling off the slightly full laundry basket off the bed, turning his wife around and kissing her. He felt her snake both her hands into his hair, pulling on the strands like she used to do and still does do. He smiled against their kiss, pushing her backwards onto the mattress. Her legs locked around his waist, and he ran his hands up her shirt, kissing her neck again. He felt her heart pick up pace with excitement, and he smirked despite himself.

They kept on with their hot kissing, and suddenly his jacket was being pushed off his shoulders. He smirked, taking off his shirt as well. He saw Clary smile that beautiful smile he had seen when she first stepped through the door. Not too soon after they moved a little further upwards, the real fun started up. It was a bit of a war over dominance, but he won like usual. His body was fire against her ice temperature skin. They were a tight knot on top of the covers, sounds coming from him and the redhead both as hours passed. He knew that at least one person had passed and heard them. Thinking about it made him become careful to not make so much noise. Finally, the clock ticked to two in the morning.

They both fell back onto the bed, Clary snuggling against him, him smiling and kissing her slightly damp forehead, pulling the covers up over their nude bodies.

* * *

Terra woke up in an unfamiliar room, the plain white walls nothing compared to what hers looked like. She jumped up, finally realizing that she wasn't in her room at all. She was in one of the occupied guest rooms. But whose room would she legit fall asleep in? She rubbed her eyes, groaning as she finally sat herself upwards. She looked around, her eyes catching mainly onto a few books sitting on the nightstand, a suitcase on the grown strode wide open, and even a couple Seraph blades sitting out in plain sight. Clearly, just from the suitcase being open alone, the person was a male. She tried to remember the last male face she had seen when she was conscious. All she could remember correctly was a pair of fierce tawny eyes and white flowers.

"Terra?" came a shocked voice from the doorway.

She looked up in surprise, gasping a little. In the hallway, slightly walking towards her, was a surprised woman about her mother's age with fair skin, black hair, and dark brown eyes. She reminded her of Alec, strangely. Her only guess was that the woman was related to the blue eyed man. She swallowed thickly.

"You're Terra, right?" the woman gently asked. "Clary and Ja-Lynx's daughter?"

 _Was she really about to say Jace instead of Lynx?_ She pondered on that for a moment, not even realizing she left the woman staring, unanswered.

"I'm Isabelle Lightwood, Jace's sister," the woman quickly explained, introducing herself.

"Nice to meet you," she finally forced out.

"Nice to meet you, too," Isabelle smiled, stepping forward. "I was just looking for Jace. Do you know where he went off to?"

"Uh, honestly," she took a second to glance around. "no, no I don't."

"Ah," Isabelle huffed, her hands going to her hips, golden hoops chiming on her wrist. "Asshole."

Terra couldn't help but snort in agreement, grunting as she swung both her legs off the side of the bed. "I should get back to my room before someone thinks bad."

Her eyes were drawn to the messiness of the stirred up duvet. It wasn't actually pulled up tangled, but it was slightly wrinkled from where she had been curled up. She let out a deep breath, fixing the sheets and blanket and pillows back to their perfect spots. It bothered her that they weren't correct. She stood up straight, smiled to Isabelle, and followed the willowy woman out of the room. She shut the door behind her, walking down the hall opposite from where Isabelle was heading to, and she went into her own destroyed room. She took a deep breath, sighing deeply. She ran a hand through her own hair, her free hand falling onto her jutted out hip. She sharply exhaled, sharply stepping into her room and shutting her door.

She grabbed some of her hidden cleaning supplies, getting busy on cleaning up her mess. She spent hours on going around and fixing everything to how she liked it. She spent countless hours fuming over the tiniest things. Soon enough, the sun was creeping up through her windows, and she was on her knees, scrubbing her white carpet and wood floors clean of the blood on the ground. She sat up as the sun casted shadows into her room, sighing deeply, rubbing at her hairline with her wrist that wasn't smothered in bleach. She closed her eyes, yawning and rising to her feet. She put away all her supplies, finally loading up her laundry hamper full of her own clothes and her blankets. She picked up the heavy netted thing, walking out of her now spotless room.

She hurried down the steps, her hands holding tight onto the fabric straps, humming helplessly to a song that was stuck in her head. She turned the corner that lead down the main corridor that would turn off to a smaller hallway that would then take her straight to the washer room, but instead of walking freely, she slammed head first into a tall, broad, strong breathing thing. Her hamper rolled away, dropping out some of her clothes. She fell back onto her rump, grunting while the other person made a sound. She looked up to see a complete stranger and her cousin Tyler staring down at her in shock. She cursed, picking up her clothes quickly. She got back to her feet, shooting visual daggers at her cousin.

"You're the one who ran into me!" he defended, his hands waving up into the air.

"You didn't hear me humming? Or my shoes?" she shook her head in confusion.

"No!" he snapped, staring at her with narrowed blue eyes. "If you haven't noticed, but this is a big place we live in! But then again, you're a girl. You're more worried about-"

She sharply cut him off, leaving her hamper in the standing up spot it was in. She had him suddenly pinned to the wall, her elbow on the right side of his neck, her forearm pressing in, her fist curled tight, eyes locked with his in a deadly motion that he knew better than to challenge. "Finish talking," she spoke softly, her voice cold with rage. "I dare you. Because I can promise you one thing: It'll be the last thing you ever say with that tongue of yours."

He went sheet white with pure horror, knowing she stayed true to her word. She sharply pulled away, picking up her hamper, taking a small peek at the stranger. Suddenly, the world was slow. She felt like she was staring at him for hours, when really it was barely a glance at him. Her face heated up hot, swallowing a little nervously, hurrying away. Her head stared downwards at her moving feet and swaying bag while she continued to walk as quickly as possible away. She tried her hardest to make it seem like she was walking away with anger, but really she just didn't want to be near them again. Her heart was beating and only one question was going through her mind:

 _Who was that boy Tyler was with?_


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - DNA:**

By eight in the morning, everyone was moving around the Institute. Brenda was doing paperwork like usual, Clary and Lynx a little too happy and relaxed when they made breakfast, her cousins doing their normal training sessions with Gabriel and Haylee. Terra, however, was looking dead into her bathroom mirror. The last mirror in her room that wasn't broken. There was a couple cracks from when she'd lose it and punch it. She never hit the mirror too hard, though. She may be psycho, but she wasn't insane. Her eyes were lined with deep crescents, her face and body looking far more hollow than yesterday, her hair becoming more brittle blonde than anything. She sighed deeply, unhappy very much with how she looked. Her body may have been thinning away, but it wasn't how she wanted her body to be.

She ran her fingers through her hair, sighing with dissatisfactory. She ran through a quick shower, not washing her hair. She exited the hot water, turning it off, and she simply threw her hair up. She didn't need anyone suspecting her of doing anything. She went into her room, throwing on a simple black top and some torn jeans. She grabbed her filled laundry basket, pulling out first the pillow sheets and various blankets. She had also moved her room around when she was on her little cleaning fest this morning, so now her bed was pushed up against a corner with a window peeking above her head and another on her side at the near foot of her bed. She fixed her bed perfectly, dashing around as she folded up her clothes and placed them where they belonged.

When she was nearly finished, she sighed deeply, scratching her inner wrist while walking back over to her bed from the dresser. There was a light knock at her door, and she let out an audible groan. She rubbed the back of her neck, leaning her head back a little while the door opened up, revealing a smirking Jace.

"Hey there, Blondie," he teased, opening up the door a little wider. "Nice to see you're up and at 'em."

"Eh," she shrugged, folding up a pair of her jeans and walking back over to her dresser.

"Didn't sleep well last night?" he stepped inside, shutting the door behind him.

"No," she sighed deeply, slowly closing the drawer but stopping half way. "I didn't even sleep. . ."

"What?" his voice became soft but stern at the same time with worry. "Why not?"

"I. . . I don't know," she fibbed, thankful that her back was towards him.

She shuffled across her room back over to the last clothing in her hamper. She dashed over to the corner beside the bathroom, sat down her hamper, and went over to her closet. She had been trying to avoid exposing her lie with the fact her lies were only able to be told by her eyes. Her eyes would go slightly gray when she lied. She took a deep breath as the room became oddly quiet. Suddenly, arms wrapped around her shoulders. She tensed up tight, shocked by the affectionate motion Jace was showing to her. She tensed, her shoulders bunching up uncomfortably, her eyes squeezing shut. She really couldn't stand to be touched. Right now was by far the worst time for her to be bothered. This morning was bad enough. Her fire still wasn't fed, and she didn't want to end up taking it out on Jace whom had done nothing but help and care for her. She held her breath, unable to help herself. It kept her from bursting out. Not for very long, though.

She gasped, exhaling sharply, flinging his arms off of her, tossing herself straight into the wall of her closet. She grunted slightly as her back made a deadly smack against the hard sheet rock. She was panting, her heart going at speeds that shockingly didn't give her a heart attack. She sighed deeply, leaning her head back against the wall, slowly sinking down to the floor. She put the heel of her hand against her forehead, applying pressure while a migraine started up. She took a deep breath, shuttering slightly as she exhaled. After a minute, she slowly opened her eyes and stared up at him through her eyelashes. He was staring down at her, golden eyes scaling her, eyebrows scrunched with a few creases of worry between them.

"Something's wrong," he slowly spoke to her, kneeling down a foot from her. "Terra, you're not the only person that's experienced things. You can't just lock yourself up and away. You have to give us a little peek at what the issue is. We can't help you if you don't."

"I'm just tired and stressed," at least it was a true statement.

"What's stressing you out?" he gently pressed.

"The fact it's been three days since my sixteen, and I can't stop reliving the night in my nightmares," she sighed deeply, spilling a little too much.

"Nightmares," he sighed deeply to no one really, staring down at his scarred knuckles. "Of course."

"What?" she demanded quietly.

"Come here," he stood up, walked over to her bed, and started to shut the blinds and curtains of her windows. "Get into something comfortable and lay down. I'll be right back."

"Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa," she shook her head, standing up slowly and striding up to him quickly. "What exactly are you doing?"

"I'm going to help you sleep for a good amount of hours," he simply answered, turning around and staring down at her. "Now, do what I said. Your best option is soft sweats and a tee. I'll be right back, okay, Terra?"

"Whatever," she scoffed in defeat.

He put his hands on her shoulders, pulling her into a short timed hug. She didn't bother hugging him back. Once he was out of her room, she did as he had told her and changed. Even though she would've preferred to stay in her actual clothes, putting on a tank top and sweats was much more comfortable. Either way, she could always change again if it came to that. She laid down on her bed, rolling onto her side, her eyes wide and staring at her wall. She couldn't sleep if her life depended on it. She knew that well enough. The door opened up again, and she sat up while turning over. Jace was walking back into her room, a small white mug in his hand. There was a steaming liquid inside. She could tell by the invisible waves floating from it.

"Lay down," he ordered, and she did so. He sat down beside her on her bed, handing her the warm mug. "This is herbal honey tea. It's good. I used to get nightmares as well. A few drinks of this, and you'll be sleeping through the demon apocalypse. I'll be in here so incase you wake up from the nightmare you can take another drink and go back to sleep."

"I don't understand why you're doing this," she stared down at the slightly golden brown liquid, smelling it. It was a sickening sweet smell, thickening the back of her throat.

"Because you're. . . You're like a sister or a daughter to me," he answered after a paused moment. "A sister that I never knew existed, a daughter I never knew I had."

"If I was your daughter," she stared down at her reflection in the sweet tea. "then it would explain a lot, you know? My blonde hair, my attitude."

"You don't think that Lynx is your father?" he pulled his brows together.

"I've been thinking about it lately," she shrugged. "Since the week before my party. I noticed how different I was from Dad. I didn't act look much like him. I know I'm short like Mom, curvy, too. I just don't see what I share in common with Lynx that wasn't picked up throughout my childhood years. I was always slightly distanced from Lynx. There had always been a little gap between us. A missing link, if you will. I just can't tell what's missing. To be honest, I've been doing some research on the more popular families of the Nephilim. I've learned a lot about the Herondale's, Blackthorn's, Lovelace's, Morgenstern's, and even the Lightwood's."

"Good," he nodded curtly. "You deserve to know."

"Yeah," she slowly brought the class cup to her lips and drank a little bit. "I'm done putting off everything. I'm going to ask Mom. Something's got to give."

"Calm down, warrior princess," he smirked, putting a hand on her knee. "Lay down. Sleep."

The door was lightly knocked on, and both of them turned towards it.

"Come on in," called out Terra.

The barrier quickly opened up to let in a pale Alec, causing Jace to tense.

"Alec? What's wrong?" Jace asked worriedly.

"There's something you two need to know," Alec took deep breath, his blue eyes switching from Jace to Terra and back again.

Terra glanced at Jace, then nodded to the pale Shadowhunter.

* * *

Clary sat in her study, the paintbrush in her hand gliding over the thick paper in front of her. This morning had been awfully quiet except for when Tyler introduced his new friend named Lark Ravenkey. Lark seemed a like a nice kid with very dark amber eyes, ivory skin, and dark black hair. She had to admit that there was something strangely off about the boy, but she didn't dwell on it. She took a deep breath, leaning back as she cleaned off the paint on her brush and went for her next color choice. Just as she went to dip the tip of the actual brush, the door to her art room busted open.

"Mom?" Terra's choked voice was demanding and loud.

"What is it, honey?" she put down her brush and stood up from her chair, turning around to see her furious daughter standing in the doorway.

Terra had old tears down her face, her once lovely green eyes showing nothing but betrayal, all of her hair thrown up, wearing a simple tank top and jeans. She noticed now just how thin her daughter was becoming. Through the loose top, she could count her daughters ribs. She felt her heart pang at the idea of being able to count her daughter's torso bones. But it was clear that wasn't why Terra was standing in her doorway, fists curled, eyes filling with tears, a red flush on her cheeks. She stepped closer to her daughter to comfort the blonde, but Terra took a step backwards. She felt her heart wiggle from guilt.

"When were you going to tell me?" Terra's voice was choked and so soft that Clary almost missed her question.

"Tell you what?" Clary blinked in confusion.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Terra snapped furiously.

"Stop yelling, Terra. Calm down and tell me what happened," she tried to soothe, but her daughter was clearly far past being able to be comforted.

"When were you going to tell me that Dad wasn't really my father?" her voice cracked on the word 'father'.

Clary inhaled sharply, and Terra's eyes hardened with anger.

"W-what are you talking about?" she tried to play it off. "Who told you something so ridiculous?"

"The one you told," Terra snapped, reaching out and pulling forward Alec. She reached back again and dragged Jace into the open space on her left. Jace stared at her with now emotionless gold eyes. "Why didn't you tell either of us? Why didn't you tell Dad? Out of everyone, you should've at least gave him the truth. He didn't deserve to be lied to."

"Terra, baby, hear me out, please," she begged, holding her hands together and staring at her hurt daughter.

"Why should I?" Terra snarled with disgust. "Who says you won't try and lie to me again?"

"You think I'd lie to you?" she felt her courage deflate.

"You already did for sixteen years, Mom!" Terra shouted furiously. "I always wondered why you never talked about your family or your past. Now I get why: you didn't want me knowing."

"I was just trying to protect y-"

"From what, mother?" Terra demanded, both hands in tight balls, tears slipping down her cheek again. "The truth? If you were really trying to protect me, you would've talked to me about it. I wouldn't have cared if you gave me a name or not, but I wish I had known that Dad wasn't really blood with me."

"I didn't want you hurting," Clary felt her own tears fall.

"No you didn't," she snapped, her lip curling with disgust. "You didn't want me going off trying to figure out who my true father was."

"Terra, please," she begged, fearing what her daughter was about to say.

"I'm going to go leave with the Lightwoods in three days," Terra said softly, her voice still cold and emotionless. "I plan to stay at the Institute for a week. When I decide to come home, I'll pay for a warlock there to just portal me home. Whether you decide to tell Dad or not, you're going to have to when he goes looking for me."

With that, Terra turned around and left. Alec followed her, not daring to take a last look at her. Jace was still in the doorway, staring directly at the Clairvoyance rune on his hand. She swallowed, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Here to gloat?" she snapped rudely.

"No," Jace shook his head, looking up at her with sober gold eyes. "I'm here to tell you that I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your life. I wish things wouldn't have to be like this. Lynx needs to be brought to the light. Now, Clary. You can't keep him out of date. I promise you he won't be mad."

"How you do you know what Lynx will feel when I tell him?" she growled with hate.

"Because he and I were planning on getting a DNA test done on Terra to see which one of us was her true father," he answered simply. "Now we don't. I promise you he's not going to get mad."

"Get out," she quietly said, turning away. "I hate you. You've already made my life difficult enough. The only real thing you've given me was Terra. I love her. More than I could've ever loved anyone. Now you come back, you stay for a while, and now you're taking my own daughter from me."

"I swear on the Angel that I'm not trying to take anything from you, Clary," Jace was still speaking just as softly as before.

"Leave," she whispered quietly.

"I'm sorry, Clary," he said, just as the hallway was filled with the clacks of his boots while he retreated from her own personal room.

Once he was gone, she sunk down onto her stool again. She put her hands on her face, sobs racking her body. She trembled while she cried. She cried because no doubt about it Terra now hated her. She cried because she had lied. Lied to Terra. Lied to Jace. Lied to Lynx. Lied to everyone. Even to herself. Now what was she going to do? Terra decided what she was going to do. Would Terra leave her? Was Terra considering living with Jace? She couldn't live with herself if she knew that Terra hated her so much as to where her daughter left her for Manhattan. But then again, it would be an opportunity for Terra to go somewhere. To fuel the blonde's desire to travel. To show Terra how much she'd miss home. To show why Clary left. She still couldn't shake off the feeling that Terra wasn't at all happy, and wouldn't be for the longest time.

How did she let this happen? How could she do this to her own child? What kind of monster hid something from their kid for sixteen years?

Sudden flashes of blue eyes, brown hair, glasses, a book store, a smiling woman with dark red hair and emerald eyes flashed in Clary's memories. _Jocelyn and Luke,_ she thought sadly. She bent over slightly, sobbing loud enough that it echoed through her study. Why couldn't things just go how she wanted?

* * *

 **A/N: Hi everyone! My name's Kelsey, and I just wanted to thank each and every one of you for reading my story. It means the world to me! You all are amazing people, and I love all of you. What do you think about my story? Tension between Clary and Jace still, Terra done being left behind, and Alec spilling the beans. I'm still working on it, but I going to start bringing up Lark some more in the next chapter. I'm pretty sure he's going to be a big part of the story. Please leave a review or comment! If you see a mistake, please forgive me and message me so I can fix it. Thank you, and love you all!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Mortal Instruments! All of the original characters belong to Cassandra Clare! I only own Lynx and Terra and Lark and Tyler and the other newbies!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - The Wolf That Cried Demon:**

Terra was in her bedroom, the door opened because today she didn't really care enough to close it. Tomorrow morning, she'd be leaving with Jace and Alec and Isabelle to go off to Manhattan. She hadn't really talked to anyone since two days ago whenever she learned the truth:

She was Jace's daughter.

She was still slightly shocked by it since she hadn't known but she had become somewhat close to Jace since he had arrived. She didn't freak out whenever he came near her, and she was a bit more confident due to Lynx being completely happy. Clary had told Lynx the truth, but he wasn't angry. He had come into her room after talking with Clary, told her that he'd love her no matter what she chose. She knew that no matter how much blood she shared with Jace, Lynx would always be her dad. Jace might've been her father, but he wasn't Lynx. Lynx had been there since the beginning, took her under his wing even though he didn't know the truth. She appreciated that the two men were at peace with the other, happy to know the truth. Clary, however, was for sure unhappy. According to Jace and Alec and Isabelle, Clary was much more irritated and tense around Jace. She knew Clary would have to get over her grudge against Jace and move forward.

She held up a piece of clothing, the suitcase opened wide on her bed, halfway filled up with her stuff. She had already packed up all of her Shadowhunter needs. She was working on her clothes for the week. To finish off her packing, she'd just throw her toothbrush, brush, face-wash, and emergency feminine stuff into the top pocket of her bag. She had her cosmetics already there - which included her straightener, curling iron, makeup, and jewelry - and ready to go. She put the last few clothes into the suitcase, but stopped as she pressed a shirt down into the stack of clothes. She took a deep breath, unable to help herself from feeling a sudden flare of hopelessness fill her body. She slowly turned around, staring at her opened doorway. In the entrance was her oldest cousin: Matt Whitefront (from her Uncle Gabriel's side), was leaning casually against the wall.

Matt was terrifyingly handsome with the dark eyes his father had, the light hair of his silver-blonde haired mother, tall and broad as Gabriel, strong and powerful. Without a doubt Matt could kill a demon without any weapon whatsoever. It was scary. She stared at him for a moment, silently demanding what he wanted with just the expression in her eyes. He stared at her, his expression actually very gentle.

"You sure do enjoy locking yourself away, Terra," he stated simply.

"I suppose," she shrugged, turning back to what she was doing and finished up packing her clothes. She zipped up the bag, forgetting completely about her hygienic things that needed to be packed still. She slid her bag under her bed, poking out the handle so that she didn't forget about it later. "What's up?"

There was a light click, and she turned around to see the boy shut her door. She didn't really dwell on it, though. She was sure that he needed her advice on something.

"I wanted to talk to you," he said uncomfortably. "I need your advice on something."

"Okay," she shrugged, motioning him to the stool of her vanity. "Something's wrong?"

"I just wanted to know your opinion on something. Okay, I like this girl," he started, and she smirked, knowing that she'd hold it over his head for the rest of her life. "She's amazing. She's funny, sweet, beautiful, and kind. But she's not exactly. . . social. I try to talk to her and get her attention, but she just kind of ignores my hints. What do I do to get her attention?"

"I don't really know what to tell you," she shrugged. "It sounds like this girl and I are a lot alike. I could tell you this much: be gentle with her. Don't push her. Just be easy. Catch her when she's not paying attention. Wait until she's doing something you know she loves to do and that you know about, too, then just sort of ask her about it. I promise you she'll answer and you can actually have a pretty nice conversation with her. I wouldn't force anything onto her. But don't be scared to push her, either. You won't get no where if you don't put a little effort into trying to get her attention. That much, I can promise you."

"Thanks, Terra," he stood up, walking over to her. "You're the . . . dumbest, most gullible person alive."

She tensed as he bent down sharply, pushing her back onto her own duvet, pressing his mouth to hers. She gasped, her arms flying to his chest, her entire will focused on getting him up off of her. She squirmed under him, uncomfortable and desperate to get away from him. He finally pulled back a little, but he wasn't getting up off of her. She felt horror fill her blood as he put his hand over her mouth, his free hand taking off his belt. She struggled until she knew for a fact a few muscles were pulled. He tied her wrists together and strapped her to the headboard. She wiggled around, trying desperately to get out of her binds. Horror was filling her entire body. He stared down at her, smiling slightly while she fought desperately against the ties.

His grin became alarmingly wicked, and his free hand started to mess with her thin clothing. She saw his eyes flicker to something. Suddenly, his hand was gone from her mouth, and instead her black bandana was being tied between her lips, blocking her from screaming out anything that didn't sound like muffled gibberish. His now free hands started to take off her clothes much more effectively. She struggled as he ripped her simple band t-shirt down the sides, leaving her in pants and a bra. Then he dragged off her jeans. She was almost completely stripped. She closed her eyes, tears falling down the sides while she fought desperately against him. Not even three seconds later, she was laying bare on her bed, him also stark naked.

She felt the true horror set in as he started to touch her and grind on her until she was no longer pure. A few hours later, he left her. He took off her restraints and muffler, leaving her crying on her bed, nude. He left her room confidently, dressed like he was before. She laid on her now ruined mattress for a while, crying until her face hurt. She slowly sat up, wiping at her face with her bare hands. On her wrists, bruises were already showing up. She slowly stood on shaky, unbalanced knees. She stumbled clumsily into her bathroom, leaning against the counter top. She shut the door to her bathroom, locking it to be safe. She stared at herself, staring at herself. She was nothing but skins and bone. She could count every bone in her spine and ribcage.

Her shoulders were small and extraordinarily bony, her collarbones the star of her upper chest and neck. On the back of her neck was the bones that started in her spine. Her shoulder blades stuck out horribly, the spine and ribs showing down her back. Now, there was bruises on her upper arms and lower arms and shoulders and back and sides and hips. Her small, shrinking, bony hips. She had a flat stomach, though. Her hip bones showed a little more than she expected. Her skin was tight over her muscles, not a gram of fat in sight. Unless her breasts and rear counted. Despite her horrid weight loss, she still had her curves. She wished they'd go away. They were shrinking, sure, but it wasn't enough.

Her stomach was completely flat, though. And that's how she liked it. She'd work her hardest to keep it that way, too. She closed her eyes, not wanting to look at herself anymore. She felt filthy. Her entire body felt violated. She grabbed her shoulders, sinking down to the ground against the wall behind her. She put her hand over her mouth, more tears falling down. She couldn't believe it. How could she be so blind? Why couldn't she have seen his intentions when he was standing in her doorway? Why was she so blind to everything? She slunk out into her bedroom, throwing on another set of clothes really quickly. She threw her torn clothes into the trash. She changed into a pair of shredded jeans, and a simple gray top that was short sleeved and cut lower than she would've liked. She stared at herself in the mirror, suddenly disgusted with herself. Why hadn't she screamed when he moved towards her? Why was she so weak? If she couldn't defend herself against a human boy, how was she supposed to be able to fend off a demon? She was a disgrace to the Nephilim.

She suddenly clutched her brush, holding back her hand, hurling the brush at her mirror. The shattering noise was ear-piercing sharp. She hid her face with her arms as the shards flew backwards, slicing her on her hand and cheek and neck and leg. Once all the pieces fell, she stared at her mirror. Again, she had destroyed a mirror. Why was it she couldn't stand herself so much that she broke every mirror she had? She put her hand over her mouth, sinking to the glass littered ground. The door to her actual bedroom flew open, Jace and Lynx and Alec all storming into her room. The way they stood frightened her. She let out a cry, scooting backwards until she was pressed into the corner beside her shower.

All of the Shadowhunters turned to her, their different colored eyes flying wide. The trio started towards her, but she moved closer into the corner, screaming with horror. Alec and Lynx stopped in their tracks, realizing something was wrong, but Jace had a determined expression as he moved into the bathroom. She felt horror unlike anything she had felt before in her lifetime fill her stomach. She grabbed a piece of glass sitting beside her, slicing open her palm, and held it out at him in a threatening motion. Tears fell down her cheeks from the fright in her. Jace went rigid, stiffening, his eyes showing the hurt he felt.

"Terra?" he whispered her name.

She sobbed, tears falling a little harder, sucking in deep as she tried to keep herself from hyperventilating and passing out.

"Terra," he bent down into a crouch so that he was on her level, his hands out to show he surrendered. "I'm not going to hurt you. Calm down. Put down the glass."

The tip started to tremble as her hand became unsteady. She shut her eyes tight, lowering her head to where it was slightly hidden behind her knees, and she lunged herself forward on her knees, throwing down the glass. More shards pierced her knees, but she didn't care. She flung her arms around his waist, burying her face into his shirt, crying as hard as possible. He wrapped his arms loosely around her, soothing her while she cried. Slowly, Lynx came into the bathroom and rubbed circles on her back. Alec, however, stood in the doorway, watching the two men calm down the girl. She kept her eyes squeezed shut, sobbing until she emptied out all of the sorrow and anger and pain she had been holding inside for the past week. When she was done crying, she leaned back a little and started to clean her face.

"Terra, what happened?" Lynx gently asked her, touching her shoulder. She flinched from him, and he pulled back slowly. "What's wrong, Snowball?"

"I-I had a panic attack," she lied, keeping her eyes downwards.

"Why?" Lynx pressed.

"I took a nap," she was speaking in tongues so much it was a shock she wasn't wearing the rune. "Had a nightmare. I woke up and came in here to splash my face. I guess I looked in the mirror and was still spooked out."

"Okay," Lynx nodded, pushing back the few baby hairs falling onto her face from her bun already. "You're alright? You're cut."

"I'll be okay," she assured him quietly.

"Okay," Jace then nodded. "I'll sweep up in here. Lynx, carry her into the actual room. Alec, can you mix her up?"

"Yeah," the fair man agreed, stepping backwards from the door.

Lynx scooped Terra up into his arms, but she started to tremble with fear under his touch. He sat her down on her bed, and she allowed Alec to move from her hand to her cheek to her knees as he drew a few _iratzes_ on her pale skin. After he was done, she shifted herself to where she was laying down on her bed. A minute or two later, she heard the door to her room shut. She let out a small breath, sitting up again, jumping with shock as someone sat on the foot of her bed. She stared in horror at Alec, scrambling back into the corner. Though she knew plenty well that he was homosexual, she still felt panic fill her as she was sitting in his presence.

"Something happened," he simply stated.

"N-Nothing happened, Alec," she fibbed, staring out at her window. "I told you. It was a nightmare."

"Funny," his blue eyes turned to slits. "Does that mean that the boy walking out of here pretty satisfied means he was here too when your nightmare happened?"

She pressed her lips together, glancing at him through the corners of her eyes.

"What happened, Terra?" he demanded, clearly not going to give it up.

"You can't tell anyone," she whispered, pleading him. "I mean you can't even hint that what happened, happened, Alec."

"Okay," he nodded.

"Swear on the Angel Raziel," she stared into his pale eyes.

He hesitated, "I swear on the Angel Raziel that I will not say what happened to you to anyone."

"Good," she pulled her knees to her chest, staring down at her bare feet that had once been cut open and bleeding. "The boy that walked out of my room was my cousin Matt. We're not really related, you know. His father, Uncle Gabriel, is just close friends with Lynx. I always saw him as a family member. He didn't see the same thing as me. . ."

"What did Matt do, Terra?" Alec pressed firmly.

"He-" she choked, unable to spit it out. "He raped me."

"What!?" the man jumped up from her bed, eyes furious, his body tense with a hateful anger.

"Alec, please," she pleaded, scooting closer to him, her eyes begging more than she could do herself. "You already swore. You can't tell anyone!"

He stared at her angrily. "You didn't call for anyone?"

"He tied me up and tied a bandana over my mouth so I couldn't do anything," she whispered, trembling as she remembered everything, suddenly rubbing at her wrists. "I couldn't stop him. He's older, stronger, and bigger than me. Alec, I couldn't stop him. I let him. I'm such a screw up. . ."

"You better stop right now," he snapped, pointing at her warningly, eyes still glowing with rage. "You're just like Jace. You blame yourself for things you couldn't help. You said it yourself: he's bigger and stronger than you. He used size and age as an advantage over you. I swear to God I'll kill him."

"No," she stared up at him in fear. "He'll take it out on me. Please, don't. You can't-"

"I can," Alec snapped. "You said I couldn't say anything. You never said anything about me kicking his ass for touching you like that."

"Matt is the strongest Shadowhunter here," she whimpered. "When I come back, no one's going to be here that knows. He'll take that as an opportunity to take it out on me if you confront him. Please, Alec. Just let it go."

"I will not," he growled. He finally ran his hands through his hair, sitting down, leaning over a little and sighing angrily. He looked up at her, his expression much more soft. "Were you a virgin? Or has this happened before?"

"I'm a- was, a virgin," she whispered, her head lowering with shame.

"Sick fucking bastard," Alec snarled with hate, staring at nothing.

"I'm sorry, Alec," she moved beside him, not touching him though. "I should've kicked him out when he came into my room."

"You didn't know what his intentions were," Alec looked up at her, putting his arm around her and gently stroking her shoulder. "Go take a shower. I'll make sure no one else comes in. You can take a nap afterwards. I'm burning your sheets, though."

"Feel free," she put her head on his shoulder before standing up and disappearing into the bathroom, grabbing a change of clothes really fast.

She stood inside, set her things down on the counter top, then hopped into a very hot shower. During her shower, she scrubbed her body until it was numb. Never before had she wanted nothing more than to get out of her skin. She felt confined and as if he was there, still touching her. She wanted him gone. She didn't want him around her ever again. But she didn't want to say anything. She couldn't. Matt would just do it again. Worse than the first time, too. He'd scare her for life, leave her beaten in her room. She knew because when she was ten he came in her room and started to push her around. He had two of his friends over, so he was trying to look cool. When she had told Mick about him pushing her around in her own bedroom, he had come back that night and went insane. He had punched her and kicked her until she was laying in a pool of her own blood.

She jumped in shock as something damp hit her chest. She looked down, noticing that it wasn't a drop of water from the showerhead. She touched her cheek, realizing that she had been crying. She sniffed, clearing away the waterworks, scrubbing her body still. She washed off, then sat down. The soreness was setting in.

* * *

Alec was furious. He couldn't imagine someone so cruel as to where they would harm someone as innocent and kind as Terra just to get some action. He wanted nothing more than to go grab Jace and Lynx, storm to the boy's room, and give the boy a scaring and beating of a lifetime. But he had sworn to keep shut. He really didn't want to. He wanted to take action. He wanted to have justice. At least she'd be in Manhattan, away from Matt, and safe, he reminded himself strictly. The shower was running, and he was sitting on her bed. He figured he could slip out, write a note to Magnus, and send it off to his boyfriend. He'd wait, though. He'd just talk to Magnus when he got home. Which he couldn't wait to do.

Louisiana was hot and humid with mosquitoes the size of wasps. He took a deep breath, pulling out his phone and checking it. Isabelle had sent a message saying that they'd be leaving at eleven in the morning tomorrow. They had come to Louisiana so that Maryse could talk to Brenda Whitelaw. When the trip was being announced, he hadn't really listened as to why she needed to speak with Whitelaw. All he had paid attention to was that the Louisiana Institute was a possible target to demons. The other night at dinner he had heard Gabriel Whitelaw speak of a nest of bog demons not too far off. He wondered if tomorrow they could wake up early and go check it out. He knew that Jace would be down.

Isabelle was going to be harder to convince since the girl liked to sleep. Since Simon had been taken away, Isabelle had changed a lot. She wasn't just a player, she was a bitch. I mean she was rude all over. She gave most guys the cold shoulder. He was worried about her. She wasn't depressed, just really upset still. He hadn't realized that Izzy really did love Lewis. She had loved Simon like he loved Magnus and like Jace loved Clary. Which, he still found the situation they were in now to be really stressful. Jace loved Clary, Clary was now married to Lynx, Clary and Jace had a kid, and Terra was now coming to stay. He didn't know what it meant. For now he could only guess she was coming to Manhattan so she could spend more time with Jace and travel a little.

He was sure that Jace would try and get Terra to go meet Luke and Jocelyn. Which I wasn't so sure that Jocelyn would want to see Terra. After Clary had left, Luke and Jocelyn were heartbroken. Told Jace that they hated him and wished that Clary had never become involved with him. Just as Clary had. It had broke his heart twice as bad. Alec had been terrified when he hadn't seen Jace for a week, then found his _parabatai_ in the attic of the Institute trying to hang himself. For the rest of the time he had slightly moved back into the Institute despite how Magnus wanted him at their apartment, he had kept a very close eye on Jace. Magnus understood whenever he saw Jace once in the training room punching a large bag.

Jace had been bone and skin. It was horrible. It had taken Alec, Isabelle, Magnus, and Maryse to get him to start eating again. Isabelle had threatened to start cooking food, then shoving it down his throat in the middle of the night. That set Jace straight. It still took a while for Jace to start adjusting to eating once more. For the first week, Jace constantly had stomach aches and migraines. Alec now feared that Terra was suffering the same way Jace had. He noticed she was getting thinner drastically every day now. He made a silent promise to make her start eating again once they were in Manhattan.

The door to the bathroom opened up, revealing a red Terra dressed in some large and baggy black sweats and a gray shirt. He stood up, snatching off her sheets and blankets. He threw them onto the ground, allowing her to slide on her bare bed. He went through a small box at the foot of her bed, pulling out a small throw blanket. He put the blanket over her, sitting down beside her. She laid on her side, facing the wall, and he rubbed her back. He remembered doing this to Jace and Magnus when they were too upset to function. Soon enough, Terra was out. He smiled, letting her sleep. He grabbed the sheets and blanket, walking out of her room.

He went to the roof, set down the blankets, and drew a Rune that meant "burn" or "scorch". As the blankets went up in flames, he walked back towards her room. He made sure that no one was in there before turning out the lights, leaving on just her Christmas lights and Chinese lanterns that dimly lit the room. He sat down on a chair and sat it beside her bed, staying wide awake while she slept soundly.


End file.
